一年出差8個月遊走6座城市的生活(上)

Road warrior Barbara Fiala is a big believer in routines. Having them helps her survive eight months travelling for work each year.

旅途戰士芭芭拉•菲亞拉(Barbara Fiala)總會不遺餘力地養成規律的生活方式。正因如此，她才能適應每年長達8個月的出差生活。

As the founder of New York-based branding and communications firm Baobab Group, the 34-year-old spends the majority of her life travelling across Europe, collaborating with government officials on their country’s branding strategy or building campaigns for corporate executives in parts of Central Europe.

作爲紐約品牌和溝通公司 Baobab Group 的創始人，這位34歲的女性多數時間都在歐洲四處出差，與不同的政府官員就他們國家的品牌戰略展開合作，或者爲中歐的部分企業高管策劃活動。

Fiala’s two-month-long stints visiting clients means she rotates around five or more locales, mostly in Europe. She spends three nights in each city and then starts over for another tour of each. Based in New York, Fiala flies to London, then on to Berlin, Budapest, Warsaw and Tel Aviv — typically in that order. All that moving around is one big reason that familiarity can go a long way when you’re away from home.

菲亞拉每年會抽出兩個月時間密集拜訪客戶，因此需要在5個或更多的地點之間往返穿梭，這些地方多數都位於歐洲。她在每個城市住3個晚上，然後再在這些城市循環居住。菲亞拉的公司在紐約，她會先飛到倫敦，然後是柏林、布達佩斯、華沙和特拉維夫——順序通常如此。之所以採用這種循環往復的模式，一個重要原因是爲了在遠離家鄉時始終能營造熟悉的感覺。

“You need to introduce small routines and continue to go on with your life while travelling,” Fiala said.

“你需要形成一些小的習慣，並在旅行生活中堅持下去。”菲亞拉說。

Staying the course

堅持到底

Typically, Fiala arrives at the destination the night before, which allows her to keep her morning routine of exercise and tea with lemon.

通常而言，菲亞拉會在頭天晚上到達目的地，這樣一來，她就能保持早晨運動和喝檸檬茶的習慣。

“I always try to wake up where I’m going to spend the day,” she said. Typically she’ll run on the treadmill or go for a morning walk if the weather cooperates. “That’s sometimes the only time I realise what city I’m in.”

“我會盡量在我要停留全天的地方醒來。”她說。她通常會在跑步機上跑步，如果天氣不錯，她早晨也會出門散步。“有的時候，我只有此時才能意識到自己在哪座城市。”

Her routine includes (mostly) staying in the same places and eating at her stable of favourite restaurants. But each city has its own twist.

她的習慣(主要)包括入住相同的酒店，固定在自己喜歡的餐館就餐。但每座城市都有各自不同的規律。

In London, Fiala stays with her sister, because “it makes it much more of a familiar feeling,” she said. In Berlin she takes a room at the Soho House, a private club and hotel with plenty of space for drinks with clients. In Tel Aviv, where Fiala lived three years ago before moving to New York, she invites old friends to Minzon for fresh pita sandwiches. In Warsaw and Budapest, she’s more adventurous and tries to stay at new boutique hotels and dine at eateries recommended by local colleagues.

在倫敦，菲亞拉與妹妹住在一起，因爲“這可以帶來更多熟悉的感覺”。她說。在柏林，她住在Soho House，那是一傢俬人會所兼酒店，裏面的空間很大，可以與客戶一起喝酒。在搬到紐約之前，菲亞拉曾經在特拉維夫居住過3年，所以她會在那裏邀請老朋友到Minzon吃新鮮的皮塔三明治。在華沙和布達佩斯，她更具冒險精神，而且會嘗試當地同事新推薦的精品酒店和餐館。

Beyond her creature comforts, Fiala also gets on with the basics of life, including taking yoga classes and carving out time to read books.

除了物質享受外，菲亞拉還會堅持一些基本的生活習慣，包括上瑜伽課和抽時間看書。

“Fairly often [business travellers] will be like ‘Let me get through the trip and I’ll read a book or I’ll start my classes’,” Fiala said. “But I’m never waiting for after the trip.”

“商務旅行者經常會說，‘出差結束後我要讀書，還要上課。’”菲亞拉說，“但我從來不會等到出差結束後再做這些事情。”